The Conducted Emission Attenuation of Micro-Inverters for Nanogrid Systems

Abstract

Road lighting systems require a significant amount of electric energy. To compensate for the utilized energy, the concept of a nanogrid road lighting system is presented. A solar panel is installed on the top of a lighting pole to generate electric power. In this research, a photovoltaic simulator (PV simulator), which is used to simulate solar behavior such as current, voltage, and power based on temperature and solar irradiance levels, is employed to replace a solar panel. In the nanogrid system, grid-connected and stand-alone micro-inverters are employed to convert the electric power. The inverters comprise switching devices that can generate electromagnetic interference (EMI) when operating, which is harmful to the grid system and the electrical equipment. In general, EMI has been studied and reduced in electrical appliances, which only receive electric power. However, for the nanogrid system, which supplies electricity to the grid system, there is less study on the EMI topic because the usage is still not widespread. In the future, the nanogrid system will be widely used delivering high power directly into the electrical grid system. Therefore, the study and attenuation of EMI in the nanogrid system are very promising. Conducted emission (CE) is one form of EMI that flows through a cable connecting several appliances in the frequency range of 150 kHz to 30 MHz. CE of grid-connected and stand-alone micro-inverters have high levels in the low-frequency range between 150 kHz–5 MHz and then decreases steadily. CE attenuation is important for this inverter in a solar power system. This research studies the effect of CE mitigation on the nanogrid system. The result is compared with the Comité International Spécial des Perturbations Radio (CISPR) 14-1 standard. Finally, the passive EMI filter can reduce CE and meets the CISPR 14-1 standard.